First moulter

This weekend we got very excited: we sighted our first moulting juveniles - two of them - of the season. These one-year old Yellow-eyed penguins fledged a year ago and are exactly on time with their moult. Still wearing the same feathers as they grew as chicks last year they will now spend 4 weeks ashore while the new feathers grow. During this time they are not waterproof and so they have to stay on land. That means no food. That means they had to prepare for this fast and ought to weigh 7-8kg at the start and they loose half of that during the moult. This one looks fabulously prepared and lovely rotund!